Once Upon a Pet Show (A Redpoint One Romance) by J.A. Marlow Page B

shiny
half-oval red shell. Put some dots on it, and it could look like a
ladybug.
    No human in sight, and it appeared to be
heading straight for the wall she'd been leaning against. "There's
a wall there."
    The bot gave her a high whistle, one of its
short eyestalks glancing back at her as it continued forward at
full speed.
    Just before it hit the wall, a seam appeared
in the surface. A door swung inwards revealing a long corridor with
spaced lights. More than wide and tall enough for a human, and
maybe even big enough for the cart Damien's bot was always towing
around.
    The computer beeped, telling her the signal
was growing stronger.
    The wall must have been interfering with the
signal. Penny might not be all that far away after all. Before she
could rethink the wisdom, Vallory stepped forward. She slipped into
the corridor just before the door closed.
    The small bot whistled again as it sped down
the corridor with its small trailer. Vallory hurried after it,
keeping it in view while also watching the indicated direction on
the computer.
    The corridor turned, and then split into two
directions. She paused. The bot continued to the left, still
speeding along. Obviously it knew where it was going and what job
it needed to do.
    Only, the signal said she should turn to the
right. A very clear signal, but she hated to leave the bot. It
didn't speak, but she'd felt better having it within shouting
distance. With a heavy sigh, she forced herself to turn to the
right.
    "Penny, don't do this again," Vallory said at
the corridor and to anyone who was listening. It would be too much
to hope Penny was listening, much less obey.
    She shivered as she was forced to take another
turn. Her suppressed fear of getting lost burst forth with renewed
strength. She didn't know how she would get out of the area, and
she hadn't seen any of the helpful computer panels that were spaced
along the regular halls, larger corridors, or streets of Redpoint
One.
    "Penny, where are you?" Vallory called out.
Maybe she should have gone back for Damien to help her with this.
He would know the station and how to find his way around, as well
as the secret doors that led to the public areas of the
station.
    The computer stayed locked on Penny. That was
a good thing. What a relief that the collar stayed on them when
they decided to make one of their escapes. If it didn't, she would
be up a creek without a paddle. The previous biologist who worked
with them had tried to insert a tracking device under the skin.
That didn't go well, and the daubpups had avoided his presence ever
since. Hence her taking over the study, and later, their
care.
    Another shiver ran through her. Did the
temperature just drop? She rubbed an arm with her free hand as she
made another turn. "Come out, Penny. It's time to go
back."
    Another shiver, but this time not due to
temperature. She paused among the pipes, conduits, boxes, and other
shapes running along all sides of the corridor. Only the floor
remained flat. Everything else was filled with, well,
stuff.
    The place didn't feel right. Not like at first
when she first followed the small bot into the corridors. She tried
to remind herself that of course the back rooms and utility
corridors of the station would look like this. Raw, industrial, and
yes, alien. She'd expected that. Redpoint One, after all, had been
built by a long-lost alien species. Xenobiologists didn't even know
what they looked like, only that they must have been around the
same size as humans to judge from the size of the rooms, corridors,
and access-ways.
    She shivered again, goosebumps appearing up
and down her arms. A cold sweat chilled the back of her
neck.
    The station. Something felt wrong in this
area. It had to be this area. She'd been fine when going through
the other parts, just worried about getting lost.
    Not here.
    The shadows grew darker. The air temperature
dropped. A soft ping echoed down from somewhere further down the
corridor. She caught her breath at